For a contest
You guys don't have to read this if you don't want to. This is for a contest entry >>
Sorry if the quality is bad. I had to take it from my cellphone since I don't have my scanner with me. >> Anyway I chose this picture based on a 2004 photo shoot they did for Cures. I decided to do this picture since this was one of the first photo shoots that got me into drawing fan art of them .
Here's my written entry.
What does the GazettE mean to me?
It took me a while to come up with an answer to this question because it was something I never really thought of. At first I couldn’t decide if I should draw or put my thoughts into words. In the end, I thought I should do both since drawing fanart of the GazettE members is what I do, but I would really like to put my feelings into words. Anyway, I guess I’ll get start at the very beginning of my journey.
If I remember correctly, the first time I saw the band was when I was messaging my friends and we were talking about the newest Foolsmate magazine with Dir en Grey on the cover that have been posted on lj. While scrolling through the post, the person who posted the scans commented that one of the GazettE members looked like a more visual kei version of Shinya (Dir en grey’s drummer). That “Shinya-lookalike” happened be Aoi during the Zetsu era. (Now that I think about it, it was an interesting comparison). I didn’t really think anything of it at that time nor did I pay any attention to them afterward. It wasn’t until later that year when I was at my friend’s house listening to a variety of different bands that I heard them. “Best Friend” was blasting out the stereo. My impression of the song wasn’t something that I couldn’t put into words very easily, but the end of the song when the members are all singing together really got to me. At that time, I never knew how much I would grow to love the band nor did I know that I would eventually drift away from Dir en grey. My friend that unintentionally introduced me to the GazettE would eventually drift away from them and fall completely in love with Dir En Grey. (We swapped places. Lol)
Fast forward about six years later and a lot have changed since then. I’m no longer that awkward teenage girl that I was when I first heard them. (I’m still a relatively shy and quiet person though ^^U). Now I’m a college student hoping to graduate next Fall while they’re a band under the Sony Record and about to perform at Tokyo Dome for the first time. The fact that the band has changed over the years (both musically and visually) made me realize how hard they’ve worked and how resilient the members are. Their personalities also grew on me. (Kai’s laugh is contagious and I can’t even begin to describe Aoi.) When looking through my magazines featuring the GazettE, I have flashbacks of what they were releasing at that time. This band also got me interested in drawing again and the members tend to be my models. Uruha was the model I would use the most. (His eyes hypnotize me XD and if you’re interested in seeing my fanart just ask.) Before that, I was trying to change my style since I was interested in drawing more realistic looking people instead of cartoons. They have really helped me excelled when I decided to take drawing classes years later.
Anyway to answer the question above, Gazette to me is friendship and growth. I learned a lot about myself when discovering them in high school and how I shouldn’t be ashamed to listen to people who look different. Children (yes children. ) might judge me because I listen to bands who wear makeup aren’t people I would like to associate myself with since it really means that they don’t know me or are willing to know me at all. There’s more to my life than visual kei music or Japanese culture (even though they might lump me in with those people who like anime/gamers even when I’m not into that stuff. I also listen to American music too. Damn it! Is that so hard to believe!?!?!?!). In conclusion, as I think about what barette_a is going though, I think about myself as well and wonder if someday I will leave the GazettE’s fandom. I believe there were times I thought I did but somehow the band is always there to stop me for some reason. Who knows? Maybe it’s fate that wants me to stay their fan. Only time will tell.
Sorry if the quality is bad. I had to take it from my cellphone since I don't have my scanner with me. >> Anyway I chose this picture based on a 2004 photo shoot they did for Cures. I decided to do this picture since this was one of the first photo shoots that got me into drawing fan art of them .
Here's my written entry.
What does the GazettE mean to me?
It took me a while to come up with an answer to this question because it was something I never really thought of. At first I couldn’t decide if I should draw or put my thoughts into words. In the end, I thought I should do both since drawing fanart of the GazettE members is what I do, but I would really like to put my feelings into words. Anyway, I guess I’ll get start at the very beginning of my journey.
If I remember correctly, the first time I saw the band was when I was messaging my friends and we were talking about the newest Foolsmate magazine with Dir en Grey on the cover that have been posted on lj. While scrolling through the post, the person who posted the scans commented that one of the GazettE members looked like a more visual kei version of Shinya (Dir en grey’s drummer). That “Shinya-lookalike” happened be Aoi during the Zetsu era. (Now that I think about it, it was an interesting comparison). I didn’t really think anything of it at that time nor did I pay any attention to them afterward. It wasn’t until later that year when I was at my friend’s house listening to a variety of different bands that I heard them. “Best Friend” was blasting out the stereo. My impression of the song wasn’t something that I couldn’t put into words very easily, but the end of the song when the members are all singing together really got to me. At that time, I never knew how much I would grow to love the band nor did I know that I would eventually drift away from Dir en grey. My friend that unintentionally introduced me to the GazettE would eventually drift away from them and fall completely in love with Dir En Grey. (We swapped places. Lol)
Fast forward about six years later and a lot have changed since then. I’m no longer that awkward teenage girl that I was when I first heard them. (I’m still a relatively shy and quiet person though ^^U). Now I’m a college student hoping to graduate next Fall while they’re a band under the Sony Record and about to perform at Tokyo Dome for the first time. The fact that the band has changed over the years (both musically and visually) made me realize how hard they’ve worked and how resilient the members are. Their personalities also grew on me. (Kai’s laugh is contagious and I can’t even begin to describe Aoi.) When looking through my magazines featuring the GazettE, I have flashbacks of what they were releasing at that time. This band also got me interested in drawing again and the members tend to be my models. Uruha was the model I would use the most. (His eyes hypnotize me XD and if you’re interested in seeing my fanart just ask.) Before that, I was trying to change my style since I was interested in drawing more realistic looking people instead of cartoons. They have really helped me excelled when I decided to take drawing classes years later.
Anyway to answer the question above, Gazette to me is friendship and growth. I learned a lot about myself when discovering them in high school and how I shouldn’t be ashamed to listen to people who look different. Children (yes children. ) might judge me because I listen to bands who wear makeup aren’t people I would like to associate myself with since it really means that they don’t know me or are willing to know me at all. There’s more to my life than visual kei music or Japanese culture (even though they might lump me in with those people who like anime/gamers even when I’m not into that stuff. I also listen to American music too. Damn it! Is that so hard to believe!?!?!?!). In conclusion, as I think about what barette_a is going though, I think about myself as well and wonder if someday I will leave the GazettE’s fandom. I believe there were times I thought I did but somehow the band is always there to stop me for some reason. Who knows? Maybe it’s fate that wants me to stay their fan. Only time will tell.